power smoothie with berries, banana & almond butter

This berry and banana smoothie with a almond butter, chia and flax seeds is my new favourite power drink for when I need a quick liquid meal. Divided into smaller portions it makes up breakfast or one of my snacks on my eating plan, and with protein, milk and fruit (carbs) its balanced. The almond butter is my latest obsession and adds the most incredible flavour to this smoothie giving it substance. I have also made it with peanut butter, which is delicious.

I often find smoothies a little unsubstantial from a meal replacement perspective but adding in the nut (almond or peanut) butter and seeds makes me feel satiated. I sometimes add oat flour if I’m feeling very hungry, but this recipe is my sweet spot in terms of ratios.

I use a mix of berries but a least half are blueberries. The other half are raspberries, strawberries and blackberries or mix of them all. I keep frozen berries as standard stock in my freezer and they give this smoothie a lovely thick and texture. My Kitchen Aid blender is my best and it churns everything into a smooth consistency in seconds.

For the yoghurt component I use artificially sweetened fat free fruit yoghurt because I do need some sweetness and for the sake of calorie conservation I choose artificially sweetened. If you are a purist and can handle a less sweet smoothie, full fat Greek-style yoghurt is better.

I use one-tablespoon chia seeds, which if you didn’t know is loaded with fibre and is an all round a super food. Check out this very interesting article by the BBC which analysis the top 100 most healthy foods and you will see chia comes in at number 5. Almonds are number and eat them everyday. I also add a tablespoon of my flaxseed blend (see the ratios below), but just ground up flaxseed would be fine too.

Flax seed and seed blend

50% flaxseeds

50% made up of equal parts pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds

Place your seeds in the above ratio and grind up in a small food processor to break up the husks and until you get a rough power form. Store in a sealed glass jar in your fridge and use in porridge, cereal or in smoothies. Great for omega 3 & 6 and delicious tasting too.